Didn't hear from anyone regarding the vinocraft, and read plenty of positive things about the Eurocave. Plus, wife (boss) decided she didn't want to look at it, so could avoid the "it needs to look like furniture" approach.<P>Comfort 260 is resting now before flipping the switch. <P>To you more experienced collectors: any suggestions on the most sensible way to fill it up for a relative newby to the wine world. Collection currently consists of about 60 bottles. Main varietals are represented with a focus on West Coast wineries. Would like to get collection up to about 150 bottles in the next few months. How would you folks populate the next 90 bottles? Looking for varietals (and suggestions of wineries if appropriate) in the good price/quality range. Particulary interested in finding good wines to lay down for a couple years. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If you list your e-mail I will forward to you a suggested collection of 100 bottles from <BR>epicurious.com (I just received the posting yesterday). As I recall it is in general terms such as two bottles of sauternes, rather than specifying a particular vineyard.<BR>

Thanks for the offer of the epicurious list. E-mail address is now posted.<P>Hotwine: Thanks for your suggestions as well. I'm actually feeling pretty good about my current collection as it includes a few of those you've mentioned.

instead of suggesting wines to buy right now, I would suggest leaving room in your cellar for future purchases/future releases. <BR>Get to know someone in your local wine store that has tastes similiar to yours. Then visit weekly and find out what is good/suggested for purchase. <BR>there are so many good wines/winemakers that there is always something great coming down the pipeline. If it's not California in 1998, then it was Aussie Shiraz. 97 was weak in Burgundy but great in Napa. 99 was good in Burgundy but weak in Bordeaux. Get the picture? <BR> I found someone at my local wine stop and did just what I am suggesting. I go in every week or so and say "hi, what's good?" she will pick out 3 to 4 good wines which I'll buy one bottle of each. I go home and I always enjoy all of her suggestions but will invariably find the one that I go back for to purchase more of...<P>Your cellar will fill up quickly, believe me! The employees at good wine stores are trying new wines constantly and they keep abreast of the market much more than I ever would shooting blindly...<P>good luck!

I'm all for leaving room in the new cellar for future purchases, as Rags advises. But I rely more on this board for suggestions on specific wines to shop for, rather than the advice of a salesman, whose job, after all, is to sell me something - anything, so long as it's something, and I don't walk out of his shop empty-handed. He has his mission, which is to make a sale (hopefully, for him, on an item with high margin), while mine is to find good QPR juice.<BR>And personally, I don't buy just one bottle of a new wine to try, unless it's $50 or more. I've been bitten by buying only one bottle, discovering at dinner that we both love the stuff, and returning to the shop the next day to find it sold out. I now buy 3-6, followed quickly by a case, if it's a winner. An example from last week is Les Jamelles Syrah, a very nice VdP d'Oc being given away at $6.99; I bought three bottles of the retailer's half-case allocation, returned and found the other three gone. Went back yesterday and found most of a new case back on the shelves (11 bottles) and cleaned them out.<BR>L'audace, l'audace! Tourjour l'audace!<BR>(Marshal Petain, c. 1917)

Your way works too of course. I've been fortunate to find an employee at the Wine Club here in SF that doesn't ever push me to buy anything. In fact, she has told me a few times to not buy anything and to just wait for the new releases (which come every week). I also always ask whether they have plenty of stock of the wines I buy in case I like them. On many wines, they can look in their computer to see how many more bottles they are expecting in the future (they don't get their entire allocation all at once). Most good shops can always locate more of a particular wine for you through their wholesalers... Not all salespeople are on commission looking to make a quick buck on us. There are some of course, but there are also those who really love wine and want to share the experience with their customers. The trick of course is to find the right shop and personnel. 8)

Couldn't agree more about the dying breed. I blame it on the conversion of many former commission-based sales positions to salary-based. That's removed an incentive to provide good service, in all too many cases, and wine shops are no exception.